It has been quite sometime since I’ve been able to sit down and write a blog, partly because I havn’t been around the internet much but also because I havn’t really known what to write. God has really been working in my life the last while and taking me through facing some of the hard questions in life. I have continued to be challenged in my faith and in my way of thinking, and as of right now I don’t really have the answers to the questions, but at the moment that is ok. So I won’t get into much of that right now, but I figured I had better write a quick blog if nothing else to let people know I’m still alive.
Currently we are back in Thailand for round number two. Officially this is the “Ask The Lord” part of the race where we have a few options available to us in regards to different countries and ministry options. What ended up happening is a month of ‘manistry’, where all the men from the different teams get together and spend the month in ministry together. So far it has been awesome just being able to spend time with all the guys and really getting to know them.
We are more or less out in the mountains/jungle of western Thailand west of Kanchanaburi, (if that means anything to anybody) and are staying at the YWAM base in a rural community doing physical labour. A major change of pace from Africa where ministry was largely evangelistic and alot more laid back, it has taken my back and ‘missionairy’ hands a while to get adjusted to longer hours of hard work mixing cement and backfilling by hand, and shovelling dirt filling pot holes. (ha I will be ready to tackle the streets of Bow Island when I get home) But like I said it has been a nice change of pace.
Being a missionary in Southeast Asia is alot different than being a missionairy in Africa, as they are two entirely different cultures. (in my opinion almost as opposite as possible) On one hand, Africa is a much more aggresive and straight forward culture. So missionally our experience was evangelistic in nature and people are open to the preaching of Christ. An existing relationship wasn’t essential to sharing your faith. Southeast Asia, Thailand at least, is much more reserved and relational and generally much more polite, but also very closed to Christianity, as only one-percent of the population professes to be Christian. It takes alot more time to invest relationally to earn peoples’ trust before your views will even be considered. Generally people don’t have a clue who Jesus Christ is, and they aren’t open to ‘new ideas’ until they truly know and trust you as a person. They need to see your faith in action before they can accept it for themselves. With this in mind I can see how the ministry we are doing this month is the best thing we can be doing as short-term missionairies. We aren’t really here long enough for people to really get to know us and what we are really about, (this can take years, not months) so instead of preaching to them and evangelizing it would be better to serve in the community and show love through our actions. Then, after Christianity has built a reputation of love, hopefully people will be open to the sharing of Christ and the love of God because they have seen love in action through service.
It has been an awesome experience serving in different cultures, and it shows that there is not one method or way to show the love of God because everyone experiences God’s love in a different way. The key is finding how you experience God’s love and how he speaks to you as an indivudual. This is one of the things I personally have been learning as of late, and it is essential to your relationship with God.
I just realized that this is the point of the blog, finding how God speaks personally to you, because he loves you as an individual, he will therefore speak to you as an individual. Yup think about that if you don’t know the answer yet. I actually have to end the blog with that because I have to get going to meet up with the rest of the guys. Big gulps huh? Welp see ya later! (haha a movie quote if you don’t know it)
Thanks everyone again for reading this and for your prayers!
